


Roll a Medicine Check

by FeralScribe



Series: Widomauk Week 2019 Prompts [12]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Broken Bones, Caleb is not a Healer, Don’t copy to another site, First Aid, Fluff, Healing/Taking Care of, M/M, Other, Tail Injury, They're both still in the 'mutual crush' phase, Widomauk Week, but he tries, widomauk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-23 12:33:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19151110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeralScribe/pseuds/FeralScribe
Summary: With both healers tapped out at the end of a long battle, Molly has to rely on Caleb to help fix his broken tail while everyone takes some much needed rest.





	Roll a Medicine Check

Molly was always told that tails were extremely difficult to break because of how flexible they are. However, no one else he knew with a tail ever had theirs stomped on by a troll, probably. Jester had just brought him back from unconsciousness with her last healing spell when the troll came after her. It was desperate to avenge the one Jester’s lollipop had crushed into a paste. In its fury it had practically leapt straight onto Molly’s tail while swinging its claws at Jester. Molly’s screeched howl of pain had echoed in the cavern with such ferocity that it startled the troll and made it miss, so at least there was that.

Now both clerics were drained and the whole reason they had taken this job was because they were too broke to afford healing potions.

“We’ve got a troll problem in the hills to the west,” the Crownsguard had said. “We don’t have the numbers to go fight them, and it’s taking all our effort to keep them away from town. We’ll gladly give you five hundred gold per head if you could go take care of them.”

They had fought and killed a troll before. They had fought and killed plenty of things. This was four trolls in an enclosed space and the entrance tunnel they had taken collapsed from a misaimed Eldritch Blast halfway through the fight. Fjord was still apologizing for that. They had no choice but to sleep there for the night, stuck with the stench of burnt troll corpses until they all had the strength or magic to get back outside.

And to make everything worse, there was nothing anyone could do about Molly’s tail. Even Yasha had used up her healing magic for the day after one of the trolls bit her in the throat. Molly tried to keep his tail from moving too much, but it was like the damn thing wanted to shake off the damage one twitch at a time. He never realized how much he used his tail for until every little jostle sent a spike of pain up his spine. He can’t even sit down without having to move it out of the way.

Caleb finishes casting his dome for added security then comes to sit with Molly. “You look miserable,” he says flatly.

Molly pouts. His tail tries to flick in dismay and he swallows a yelp. “Is it that obvious?” he growls.

“I can’t imagine what that must be like,” Caleb says. He looks over Molly’s tail with a concerned expression. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Do you have any petrifying spells?” Molly asks. “It would be more tolerable if I didn’t have to move around so much.”

Caleb slumps his shoulders. “No. I am…fairly tapped out. The best I could do is cause you to fall asleep for about a minute. Sorry.”

Molly pulls his knees to his chest so he can wrap his arms around them. Even that sends a shock of pain through his tail. “It’s alright. It’s better that you kept them from regenerating. Otherwise a broken tail would be the last of everyone’s worries.”

“Yes, well, I wish I could do _something_.” Caleb thinks for a moment. He absentmindedly scratches at his arm. He looks down with that dimple he gets between his eyebrows when he’s considering something important. “Nott?” he calls quietly. “Could you loan me a few of your bolts, please?”

Nott glances over from where she’s fussing up her cloak into a makeshift pillow. “Sure. What for?”

“I want to try to make a splint for Mollymauk’s tail.”

Nott tosses him her whole quiver. Caleb pulls out three bolts then begins unwinding the bandages from his arm.

Molly’s eyes go wide. “You don’t have to do that,” he says. “I know you don’t like taking those off.”

“It is alright,” Caleb assures. “I have nothing to hide from you anymore.”

The warm tingles of affection in Molly’s chest get interrupted by a surge of agony from his tail. It curled into a loop right at the break and Molly bites his tongue to keep from screaming. Despite the tears in his eyes, he smiles at Caleb. Everyone except Nott and Beau was astonished by Caleb’s confession, but even they didn’t know about the scars until then. Caleb has been more and more relaxed each day after that, since no one treats him any differently.

Molly tries his hardest to hold still, but there’s another problem; every time Caleb touches him Molly get a trilling tingle in his chest and his tail twitches in response. He bites his lips shut and clenches his jaw. A few whimpers make it out of him regardless.

“Your tail is indeed…quite active,” Caleb remarks. “I am not hurting you, am I?”

Molly shakes his head. “Nn-nn,” he hums. He gestures with one hand for Caleb to continue with the splint, and quickly.

“I am not the most skilled healer, sorry.” Caleb gingerly arranges the three bolts around the section of Molly’s tail that is now an angry shade of blackish purple and slightly swollen. That in itself is painful, but also his tail simply _will not behave, damn it_. “Can you lift it a little?” Caleb asks. “I need to wrap it and I can’t do that if it’s on the ground."

“Hnn _mmf_.” Molly shifts onto his knees. He grabs his tail in both hands, each about a foot away from the break, and holds it up for Caleb. The pain is horrific. If he holds his tail too slack it bends and if he pulls it taut he can feel the broken bones moving. It’s so bad that his instinctive reaction is to chew his tail off and be done with it.

“Need any help?” Fjord asks, lifting his head off the rock he was resting it on.

“I think we have got it, Fjord,” Caleb replies, “but thank you.”

Molly nods in agreement. There are things that Fjord is good at, and none of those things requires much intricacy. Caleb, however, has such clever fingers. They can trace runes in midair and flourish spell components just so and Molly has watched in fascination as Caleb reads with his book held open in one hand while the other hand turns the pages so carefully. Molly sometimes wishes he could rest his head in Caleb’s hand so Caleb could stroke his hair with the same reverence. That is not the sort of thing he should be thinking about now because — _yeowch_ — his tail wants to swish back and forth the way it usually does as he daydreams but it hurts _so fucking much_.

Caleb does his best to be delicate. With one hand he holds the three bolts spaced as evenly around the broken and bruised area as he can while his other hand applies the bandages. Every time Molly winces Caleb mutters an apology. His brow is knit in concern and concentration. Several times he asks if he’s wrapping it too tight. Molly shakes his head. Through the throbbing shooting pain, the warmth and gentleness of Caleb’s fingers is quite pleasurable. Under any other circumstances, if Caleb were handling Molly’s tail like this Molly would be fairly aroused.

After a few minutes that felt like an hour, the bandage is secure. Any movement in his tail is still a literal pain in the ass, but at least now the area around the break won’t curl or twist or do anything else to make things worse.

“Thank you, Mister Caleb,” Molly says.

“You are welcome, Mister Mollymauk.” Caleb glances over to where half their party is passed out. Caduceus and Jester are curled up together in a cleric cuddle pile. Yasha, who fought off two trolls at once and definitely looks like it, passed out after Molly assured her he would be fine until morning. Beau is lying a few feet away, her head lolled in Yasha’s direction, but she is also sound asleep due to exhaustion. Fjord is settling into sleep; from the tic in his foot Molly knows he’s not there yet. Nott stayed up to watch Caleb work, and her eyelids are drooping more and more each second. “I supposed we should turn in for the night as well,” Caleb says.

“Sounds like a plan.” Molly searches for a soft place to sleep. The cavern floor has some shallow patches of sandy soil that are only somewhat kicked up from the earlier action, but otherwise it’s mostly stone. Molly crawls over to one sandy area. It’ll have to do for now. He rolls up his coat, which has several holes in it from claws and jaws that he’ll have to get Jester to mend once she is capable of doing so, and tucks it under his head as he stretches out on his back.

Even while he’s trying to sleep, his tail continues to be a masochist and shift around trying to get comfortable. Molly groans to himself. He hopes sleep will come soon so he doesn’t have to feel this anymore.

Soft footsteps approach Molly, then there’s the shuffling of feet and hands on stone and sand. Molly opens one eye. Caleb is there, kneeling beside him. “I um…” Caleb’s voice is barely even a whisper. “I thought of something else that might help you.”

“What’s that?” Molly asks just as quietly.

“I… I don’t have a _spell_ that can prevent your tail from moving in the night, but uh…I could…I could hold it in place, if you would like.”

Molly cocks an eyebrow. “How?”

Caleb fidgets with the sand beneath his fingers. It makes a gentle sound. “I could…erm…sleep beside you and— and keep it between my legs.”

The sudden sensation in Molly’s stomach is almost enough to distract him from the pain of his tail curling in delight at the suggestion. “Uh, sure, if you think that’ll help.”

And so Caleb rests his head on Molly’s shoulder as he curls up along his side. He carefully pins Molly’s tail between his thighs and ankles. Molly relaxes as best as he can. Caleb puts his arm over Molly’s waist. Molly relaxes even more. His tail tip flicks in enjoyment, but with the rest of it essentially immobilized it’s not so bad. Molly isn’t in the moment as much as he would like to be since the dull throb in his tail demands his attention whenever he tries to think about anything else. He wraps his arm up over Caleb’s shoulders and holds him close.

“The others will have a lot to say if they find us like this in the morning,” Molly murmurs with a little grin.

Caleb shrugs. “I have a perfectly legitimate reason to be here like this. Also you are more comfortable than the ground.”

Molly chuckles. “Yes I am.” He pats Caleb on the head. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

With Caleb in his arms and his tail coming to rest, it is a good night for Molly indeed.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leaves kudos and comments, and if you want to support my work even more you can find me on Ko-fi under the same name!


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